Jeremy Hunt’s post about mental health provision is the self-own of the year – the only 7 takedowns you need

Although not a part of Boris Johnson’s cabinet, Jeremy Hunt seems to have fallen prey to the same foot-in-mouth disease that plagues the current government, even when he’s off-duty. On Saturday, he tweeted about an encounter at his son’s football match.

Watching my son play his first matches with Milford Pumas have just been approached by another Dad about problems accessing CAMHS…so much more to do on mental health really hope some of the extra NHS cash goes towards it

— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) September 7, 2019

CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services – fell under his purview during his time as the longest-standing Health Secretary ever, lasting from 2012 to 2018. Naturally, this fact didn’t escape the notice of Twitter.

1.

IF ONLY THERE WAS SOMETHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE WHEN YOU WERE HEALTH SECRETARY FOR SIX YEARS. (FYI in 2016, the government’s independent Mental Health Taskforce criticised your “chronic underinvestment in mental healthcare across the NHS in recent years”.) https://t.co/ptTDz2lAHb

— Adam Kay (@amateuradam) September 7, 2019

2.

If only there was some way of knowing who was Health Secretary between 2012 and 2018 and who brought in all the cuts that devastated mental health care. If only. https://t.co/EjV5PxHXCz

— David Schneider (@davidschneider) September 7, 2019

3.

Blimey!
You seem to have forgotten you were the Health Secretary for six years https://t.co/t3gDOssfMA

— Clare Hepworth OBE (@Hepworthclare) September 8, 2019

4.

'One day, hopefully, someone will fix the God-awful mess I made of running the NHS' https://t.co/9z9fdoiLIA

— Another Angry Voice (@Angry_Voice) September 7, 2019

5.

If only you’d been in a position to directly affect mental health provision for several fucking years, eh?

— 🏳️‍🌈 Max 🏳️‍🌈 (@SpillerOfTea) September 7, 2019

6.

If only the last health secretary hadn't been someone who pretended to improve things by producing hot air, while overseeing services crumbling due to underfunding

— ben dean (@bendean1979) September 7, 2019

Composer and Twitter maestro, Nick Harvey, translated the tweet into a more honest form.

7.

I’ve fixed that for you. You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/hFWNvYfwnK

— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) September 7, 2019

That definitely covers it.

Source: Twitter, Images: Twitter screengrab, Suffolk Now

Read more: Jeremy Hunt was the unwitting foil in Laura Kuenssberg’s epic in-joke with Greg James